brown tips on Cordyline
Quick answer
If your Cordyline has brown tips, the most likely cause is: Cordyline (ti plant) is listed among houseplants that are sensitive to fluoride, which is often added to public water supplies, and the most common symptom of fluoride sensitivity is browning leaf tips; fluctuating soil moisture and erratic fertilization can produce the same symptom.
Start here:
- 1. Switch to distilled water or collected rainwater, which is the ultimate solution for plants sensitive to fluoride, and stop using fluoridated tap water for routine watering.
- 2. Place pinches of lime on the surface of the pot every few months to raise the soil pH and make residual fluoride more soluble, then flush the pot periodically to leach built-up salts and fluoride from the root zone.
Why Cordyline gets brown tips
Cordyline
Cordyline (ti plant) is listed among houseplants that are sensitive to fluoride, which is often added to public water supplies, and the most common symptom of fluoride sensitivity is browning leaf tips; fluctuating soil moisture and erratic fertilization can produce the same symptom.
How to reverse brown tips on Cordyline
- 1
Switch to distilled water or collected rainwater, which is the ultimate solution for plants sensitive to fluoride, and stop using fluoridated tap water for routine watering.
- 2
Place pinches of lime on the surface of the pot every few months to raise the soil pH and make residual fluoride more soluble, then flush the pot periodically to leach built-up salts and fluoride from the root zone.
Keep brown tips off this Cordyline
Mist the ti plant every day or so to raise humidity around the long, strap-shaped leaves, because this plant can suffer badly in extremely dry air, and keep the soil at moderate even moisture so roots stay lightly moist without drying out and then flooding.